After the fight with the giant ferrets, Los Voahraan decides to attempt to tame the one she has captured. While she is rolling around in the pile of dead ferrets to make herself smell familiar to the beast, Rza, Ho' Ming Beacon, Turoc, and Eltharias return to the upper chamber, carrying the body of Snatch.

Shortly thereafter, the party is joined by the halfling Gaby (Kaaolio's retainer), the elf NibblesNiolinyth Acornhollow (Los Voahraan's retainer), and Grab the Deeply Morose (brother of Snatch the Suicidal and retainer of Eternulax the Immortal). When Grab sees the body of his brother Snatch, he says, to no one in particular, "Well, it's what he always wanted."

When she is finished rolling in dead ferrets, Los Voahraan elists the help of Nibbles to win the trust of the captured animal. Together the approach the creature, which is at first fearful and untrusting, but gradually warms to Los Voahraan when he catches her scent. Finally, the three foot long beast hops into her lap and curls itself into a ball. Los Voahraan names him Scribbles.

Animal training complete for the day, the adventurers head east down the hall and take a right to check out the statue near the two doors at the end of the corridor. The find it is a depiction of the same bearded man with a lightning bolt who is on the top of the pyramid. The statue appears to be gold, but Grab determines that it is only painted that color, rather than being made of the precious metal.

Curious what is behind the doors, Eternulax attempts to open the one on the right. Failing at first, on his second attempt he shoves the stone slab and swings it inwards. Five men sitting on bunk beds have turned toward the door to see what all the racket is about. They are dressed in blue tunics, iron chain mail, helmets, and golden masks that look like the bearded man on the top of the pyramid. Where their skin is exposed it is very pale. Eternulax steps forward and hails the group in Common.

The men stand up, and one of the responds in heavily accented Common. They ask where the travelers come from.

Eternulax tells them the party comes "from across the sea of sand." Grab begins to describe the wonders of the outer world, but it is when he asks about the pyramid and the statues on top that the representative of the other group grows more animated.

In an excited voice, he tells the adventurers that the statues are of the Three Patrons of Cynidecia: Gorm (the most powerful), Usamagaris (the "child"); and Madarua (the "woman".) He and the other men are part of the Brotherhood of Gorm, and they are working to restore Cynidecia to its former glory. He explains that there are many enemies in the pyramid and "below the pyramid," and that Gorm invites the travelers to join him in fighting these enemies—in particular the hated "priests of Zargon".

The man then encourages Grab, Kaaolio, Taanyth to become full members of the Brotherhood, and the others to become "lesser" members. The Brotherhood will provide for all members, and even for the friends of members who choose not to join themselves. If anyone wants to become part of the Brotherhood, they must meet Kanandiaus.

All the members of the party agree they would like to be introduced to this Kanandius, so the man escorts them to the room next door. Here they find five more Brothers and a tall man dressed like them but with a more elaborate helmet. This is Kanadius. He also encourages the party to join the Brotherhood, but says they must be "true." To join, they must undergo the "test of the hemet." If they are dishonest, and try to join under false pretenses, the Brotherhood will not assist them.

Each member of the party is left to choose whether or not he or she wants to undergo the trial.

Eternulax the Immortal, Snatch the Suicidal, the cleric Los Voahraan, and the dwarf Ho' Ming Beacon (another one of Rza's retainers, and the sister of Mavis Beacon) climb down the ladder into the central room and hear the sounds of the battle with the giant lizards. Opening the door, Snatch the suicidal charges toward the fray, followed by the other three.

The fight is over as soon as Snatch arrives, and Ho' Ming walks up just in time to see him pulling the body of Mavis into the doorway to prop the door open. In grief she kneels down and places coins on the eyes of her dead sister.

The party searches the room. Behind the bed, Kaaolio finds the half-eaten body of another albino. This one wears the gold-inlaid mask of a birdlike creature, which Kaaolio secures.

Still extremely hungry, the group takes the dead lizards back to the central room and lights another oil pot to cook the meat. Parched with thirst, they also—with some trepidation—drink the blood. The share both with the survivors in the upper chamber, and Xander Cage climbs up with Guy Buddy to help guard this other group.

The rest of the party closes the doors of the central room and rests for several hours, to recover from their wounds and to replenish the spell Rza used.

When they wake, they examine the unopened door in the eastern corridor. It leads to another abandoned chamber, also furnished with a decrepit bed, desk, and chest. Finding nothing when they search the chamber, the party is leaving when they hear squeaking coming from the holes in the carvings around the ceiling. These sounds seem to be from more than one creature—perhaps badgers or weasels—but they seem louder than one would normally expect.

Close examination reveals the holes where a couple of the creatures are hiding. Taanyth fires an arrow at one of them, which squeals and retreats further into the ceiling/wall. Eltharias attempts to attack with a sword, but cannot reach his hidden target. In response to this aggression, four giant ferrets swarm out of the holes and down the walls.

Eternulax the Immortal wounds one of the beasts with a flash of magical power, but the attacks of the others are unsuccessful. Snatch the Suicidal goes down beneath a furious ball of hair and sharp teeth. Sensing possible disaster, Eltharias casts a spell that puts all the ferrets to sleep.

The party quickly dispatches three of the slumbering creatures, but Los Vorahaan makes a rope leash and secures the fourth, hoping to tame it as the group explores further into the pyramid.

Following the fight with the giant beetles, the party is nearly overcome with hunger and thirst. A quick examination of the room reveals three doors, a collection of machinery parts and several clay pots containing an oily residue. On the verge of dehydration and starvation, the party decides to try lighting the clay pots so they can roast the dead beetles.

While his companions are putting this plan into action, Taanyth climbs up one of the ladders to see what is above. As he passes through the entrance chamber, he is hailed by another group of survivors from the caravan who have been following from a distance. The new group includes Kaaolio the Fighter, cousin to the deceased Kaaolio the Thief, the elf Xander Cage with his elven retainer Guy Buddy, the elf Eltharias, and Mavis Beacon, another of Rza's retainers.

These six descend into the chamber below, while Eternulax the Immortal and Snatch the Suicidal climb up to help guard the remaining survivors.

Continuing his climb up the ladder, Taanyth finds himself inside the hollow statue of the child wrapped in cobras. The interior space includes a tube going to the mouth of the statue, and several levers that appear to move the various body parts.

Returning to the chamber below, the elf descends through an oily, smokey haze coming from a fire burning in one of the pots. The party is cooking beetle over the fire. As they consume it in their famished state, they feel it is the best thing they have ever eaten.

Following their meager dinner, the adventurers check out the other ladders to confirm they go up into the two remaining hollow statues. They then proceed to check out the three doors exiting the room.

Two of the doors appear to lead to empty corridors, but the third reveals a hallway with two other doors visible. The party moves into this passage, closing all the doors in the room behind them.

Listening at the door on the right, they hear nothing, so they force it open. Inside is a long abandoned chamber containing an old bed and other rotting furniture. Suddenly, the blue and orange head of a giant lizard appears from behind the bed. Thinking this might be an intelligent species, the party tries hailing it, but when the lizard hisses at them, Taanyth lets fly with an arrow. He hits the beast, which charges the door.

Mavis Beacon moves into the room to engage the lizard, but is slain by a second lizard dropping from the ceiling. Rza fires a bolt of magical energy, killing one of the lizards. Turoc scans the ceiling, looking for other antagonists. When he finds nothing, members of the party advance into the chamber and dispatch the remaining lizard, leaving the room free for them to explore.

A group of travelers are separated from their caravan during a great sandstorm while crossing the Aalysian Desert. When the storm subsides, they are lost in the seemingly endless dunes. They continue traveling in the direction the caravan was originally taking until their mounts have died, and both their food and their water are gone. Two days after drinking the last of their water, the party stumbles upon a step pyramid rising from the sands in the midst of a ruined city. Atop the structure they see three statues—a bearded man, a child with two cobras twined about his body, and a beautiful warrior maiden.

In the side of the pyramid, they discover secret door held open by the body of a an albino man in robes and a bronze monkey mask. He has been shot in the back by a crossbow.

Faced with the alternative of dying of hunger and thirst or seeking food and water within the pyramid, the party enters. Inside, they find the empty crossbow trap that killed the man in the monkey mask as he was leaving the pyramid, as well as several traps in working order guarding the hollow bases of the three statues atop the pyramid. Within the bases they see ladders ascending upwards into the statues and downward into the dark room below. Moving within the room are three creatures with glowing red spots on their bodies, shedding an eerie light.

The three creatures are giant beetles. The desparate adventurers descend in the room and kill two of the beetles, causing the third one to flee up the wall and into a hole in ornate carvings near the ceiling. Sadly, Kaolio the thief is slain by one of the beetles during the fight.

Through trial and error, the party discovers they can remove the glowing glands from the bodies of the two dead beetles, and use them as a dim light source. They salvage four glands in this way, preparing to explore further into the pyramid.